Christmas Morning: Saturday 31st August: Tullamore Half Marathon

All done and dusted but what a week it was….after going so well in the Cloghan 10K on Sunday 25th August we only had 2 more nights training to do…went up to the harriers on Tuesday night and went for a 30-40 minute run up around Charleville…did 1 lap up there and then ran back to the harriers...everyone else looked like they were doing 2 or more laps but John said we were only going to do the 1…when I got back it felt like we didn’t do much at all…Thursday was the same…got my number for the run and half marathon t-shirt and did about 7 laps of the tarmacadam track and that was it…we were tapering at this stage…something that John had said we’d be doing before the race. Since our last long run on Saturday 17th of 12 miles, we did 10 miles on Tuesday 20th, 7 miles on Thursday 22nd, 10K run in Cloghan on Sun 25th, 30 mins on Tuesday 27th and 30 mins on Thursday. I thought I’d feel great during this week as I knew I had all the work done but actually the opposite happened. I felt I hadn’t done much in the last 7-10 days and that this would affect me on the day of the run…but John gave us a plan and we were going to stick to it...John gave us a pep talk on the Thur night and gave us tips and pace we were to run at etc …practical stuff but very useful. Was on the internet on Friday night and was reading about preparing for marathons and came across a quote from Seb Coe…his quote was “There's not much you can do in the last few weeks to improve your performance, but there's a lot you can do to mess it up.” He used stronger words than this, but you get the gist…so everything was done race was on tomorrow.

Morning of the race Sat 31st August…got up around 8:15 and had 2 Weetabix’s, half a spoon of sugar and milk…was feeling good….got the gear ready before I had to head into town for an hour…got back around 10 and put the gear on and got up to the harriers around 11:10. I had a few bottles of water since I got up and enjoyed a banana in the car heading to the harriers. On arrival there was a great crowd there already and I parked up in the field in the middle of the tarmacadam track…a huge amount of people were helping out with everything and the atmosphere felt good. Meet up with Ciaran and his brother Hugo who was doing the run as well…then spent the next 30 minutes etc talking to a lot of people about the run, our blogs etc and everyone was giving us great encouragement and advice….visited the little boys room twice before we left to go to the start of the race on the top of Dillon street and then we were lined up ready to go. Ciaran and I were going to be running at different paces as per John’s advice…I was to run at 10:15 pace and build it up and Ciaran was to run at 10:30 pace and build it up, so I said best of luck to Ciaran and Robbie Connolly who was starting the race with him and off we went. The time I had discussed with John to complete the race in was somewhere between 2:05 – 2:08. However.........

When I did the run in Cloghan the previous week I did the 10K in 54 minutes and my previous best time for 10K was over 57 mins. The main reason for the big improvement was that I started the race at a very fast pace as I got caught up in the excitement etc and then after a mile I started to run at a steady pace of 9 min miles…I ran at this pace for most of the race in Cloghan so I knew I could do it but only for 10K. Since I ran the first mile in 7:47 this allowed me to get under the 55 mins and this is what pushed me on while I was doing the Cloghan run. Running the 10K in under 55 mins was a target I had set for myself after I ran a 10K previously in under the hour….it’s funny how initially all you want to do is finish races and then all you want to do is beat a time you set for yourself.

On Friday night I was on the harriers Facebook page and someone had put up an image on the “Half Marathon Pace Chart”…the pace you need to run to get in under a particular time.  I had a look at this and to get in at 2:00:10 you needed to run at 9:10 min pace…similar to what I did in Cloghan but double the distance. I slept on it Friday night and on Sat morning when I felt good I decided that I’d give it a go and try and get under the 2 hours. If I didn’t start well then I definitely wouldn’t be able to make it under 2 hours so I decided to run the first 3 miles to Screggan Cross at about 9:30 pace and then I’d see how I felt..If I wasn't able to keep up the quick pace I'd slow down and try to get in somewhere between 2:05 – 2:08 as originally planned...If I was going well I'd keep going at that pace and when the legs were loosened out in the middle of the run I’d be able to run a bit quicker and I might be able to make back some time...here is how it went.....

Started the first mile at 8:35...again getting caught up in the excitement of race etc…2nd mile was downhill into Mucklagh at 9:06 pace and then 3rd was uphill again at 9:22 pace…turned at Screggan Cross and was feeling ok…next few miles were steady at 9:22 approx but was happy enough as 1st mile had given me breathing space with my time…the energy gels as discussed with John were taken at 5 mile and later at 9 mile (John said wait till 10 mile but felt I needed it at 9 mile)…when I got to the half way stage I was still ok but then I just started to run a lot quicker than before…don’t know was it that I’d reached the half way and was on the way home (that’s what I told myself anyway) or was it that the energy gels kicked in but I must have passed about 20 people in 10-15 minutes…something I’d never done before and it felt good and it gave me the confidence to keep going at that pace..after the turn for Killurin I had to have a quick toilet stop and then we had about 5 miles to go…found this hard as the road felt long etc and was wishing for the mile markers all along this route...ran with Breda Kinnarney for a good bit along this stretch and we had a good chat....I hadn’t spoken to anyone else since about the 1 mile mark...the bit from Tullamore Golf Club to Barnes Gate was tough as it was uphill for a good bit of it but when I got to fingerboard was ok….charleville road felt long but passed the 12 mile marker and eventually turned into the harriers at the front gates…..great encouragement throughout the race but the last 2 miles was exceptional with a lot of marshals and people shouting everyone on…when I got onto the track for the last 400m I was feeling tired but ok and really enjoyed the lap…with about 150 meter to go I gave it full throttle and finished very strong which I was delighted with…finished my first every half marathon in 1:59:22

Here is my splits from the race..
1    08:35
2    09:06
3    09:22
4    09:32
5    09:22
6    09:22
7    09:19
8    08:18
9    08:58
10  09:07
11  09:02
12  09:27
13  09:11
14  00:42 for .1 Mile (07:30 pace)

There was a huge crowd in the stadium and I had my family up there when I came in…there was loads of photos being taken and everyone that that finished was in great form and we were all eating bananas, oranges, etc and the water was flowing….the whole atmosphere was electric and everyone arriving into the stadium and finishing the race were cheered towards the finish line and everyone was in good spirits. Was speaking to a lot of people after the race and everyone seemed delighted with how everything went and Matt McCormack summed it up for me when he said to me “It’s like Christmas morning”, why said I….”because everyone got what they wanted” and he was right. I spoke to Paul Buckley from Cloghan who came 2nd in the race in a time of 1:13:20 and John Rigney who came in at 3:00:43 and both were equally delighted with how they got on….and everyone in between was happy as well. When everyone got in there was enough food, drink, refreshments for everyone and I couldn’t compliment the club on how well everything was run and based on the feedback I was hearing everyone thought the same. I left with Ciaran at about 15:45 as we both wanted to get home for a rest before the club BBQ and after party that was planned for Lynches for 20:30.  Here is a photo of John Rigney finishing off on the track after a great run.....

So what did I learn over the 11 weeks while we were training….just going to pick 11 things but learnt so much more

1. Get the right running gear so you are comfortable while out
• Get a good pair of running shoes…depending on miles etc…change after 4-6 months
• 1000 Mile Socks are great
• Bicycle shorts stop chafing…get a pair
• A watch is very useful and definitely a GPS watch that will tell you pace/distance
2. When running
• Run a steady pace and try not to run erratically..eg 9 min mile then 10 then 9 etc..
• Start at a slower pace as when you get going your tend to run a bit quicker when you loosen out a bit 
3. Breathing…get this under control and run at a pace that is comfortable for you…everyone goes hard at times etc but when out for a run you should be able to have a conversation with someone…if you can’t you’re going too hard.
4. Drink enough water, before, during and after a run…keep rehydrated
5. Energy gels are useful for long runs but they might or mightn’t work for you
6. You might need to go to a toilet on route…be prepared...luckily Ciaran or myself weren’t hit with bowel movements during any of our runs…it would have been a good photo thought….
7. Join a running club or talk to people who are into running as you’ll get bits of information off everyone and you’ll learn something each time.
8. When running on the road…try to run where road is level and not at the side where there is a slope…sometimes only possible in races where there is no traffic but definitely it will make a difference when you are running. 
9. On sunny/warm days…..run in the shade when possible...this will help you during your run.
10. During a 1 hour or 10K run you will burn approx. 1000 calories...2 hours 2000 calories...make sure to eat a good breakfast and something small like a banana or slice of toast 1 hour before you run.
11. Get in with a group you are comfortable running with and enjoy it…you’re only doing it for yourself so try and enjoy it…if you enjoy it you’ll keep it up...I think I’m hooked
12. Finally: running clubs aren’t just for elite athletics, they are for normal people who like to  run…some are at it for years…some are only starting out…the hardest thing with anything is to go the first night…get over this and you’ll never look back

So there was something's I had planned to do but never got around to it …I had planned to interview a few people regarding Diet & Nutrition, Physio etc but never got around to it..Carina and Paul we might do the interviews again someday....I did an interview with Eamon Henry who is over the Offaly Sports Partnership but never got time to edit it...I'll have to edit it as it was a good chat. Over the 11 weeks I never missed a training sessions and I did fully commit to the challenge and we ran about 35 times during this period. Ciaran has all the info on the numbers on his blog http://fatdadrun.blogspot.ie/2013/08/its-all-about-numbers.html but we ran about 220 miles during this period….the most miles in a week was about 27 in 3 sessions. On the 17th June when we started the training I weighed in at 13st 5lb and today I'm 12st 13lb...this is down from over 14st in early Jan this year so delighted with my progress here...was the training difficult….yes it was…is running hard…yes it is….did I enjoy learning how to run correctly…yes I did…will I keep it up…yes I will.

The plan is to keep up the training with the harriers and Ciaran and I want to complete a marathon someday…when that will happen I don’t know…but we are planning another half marathon in Athlone (Flatliner) on Sat 14th Sep and we’ll see what happens after this…

Just to finish off….This is my last post in my blog…it was a really enjoyable experience from start to finish and I learnt a lot more from it than I thought I would…thanks to the harriers for the opportunity, John O’Connell for all the advice, knowledge, patience and friendship over the 11 weeks and I know this will continue into the future, all the girls “Bubbles Bunnies” for looking after me on the long runs when Ciaran was away, all members of the harriers especially Mary Daly (Ladies Captain), Adrian Martin (Mens Captain), Darren Butler and Michelle Mullaney (Club PRO)….It’s a great club and one I plan to stay involved with, and finally the other guinea pig…my run buddy…Ciaran “Lynchie” Lynch. Ciaran is keeping his blog going so I might pop up now and again on his one…With all Ciaran’s experience on Midlands Radio 3 he popped up with Hector on Radio 2 on Monday this week and was still on the radio today Wednesday….rumour has it that he’s going to be doing a slot with Pat Kenny on Newstalk each Tuesday starting next week so tune in to see how he’s getting on…until we meet someday, somewhere, running our little hearts out...keep it up…thanks for reading the blog and I hope you enjoyed it…

Over and Out!!
Ray aka Bubbles, Bubs, Bubby Bell.

Cloghan 10K Run 2013

Going to cross post this blog with my home GAA club St Rynaghs....really enjoyed the Cloghan 10K on Sunday...we had over 100 people participating with some running the 10K and some running and walking the 5K..

I arrived over to Cloghan at 10:00 as I was helping everyone get set up...we had the registration upstairs  in our new clubhouse and PJ "Vander" Camon and Eddie Higgins had everything looking great...All entrants of the race received a goodie bag and a technical t-shirt...this was the 3rd year of the race and its organised each year by Paul Buckley from Ferbane Athletics Club who is from Cloghan and is well known in athletics circles throughout Ireland...he was helped on the day by his brother Neil who is also well know and who runs the Midlands Boxercise in various locations throughout the midland...with Cloghan and Tullamore being two of them...St Rynaghs Football Club would like to thank both lads especially for all the work they put in each year organising the race. The race went off without a hitch and it was well marshalled with enough water stations and hills for everyone to enjoy. Thanks to everyone who helped out with BBQ, Food, Registration, Marshalling, Guards, Lead Car etc...I don't want to start mentioning names in case I forget people but it was a success and we'll see you all again next year.

The winners of the race were

Senior Males
1. John Harking : Tullamore Harriers : 34:41
2. Paul Mitchell : Ferbane Athletics Club : 35:09
3. Jason Donegan : Tullamore Harriers : 35:16

Senior Females
1. Emma Kenny : 41:23
2. Carmel Condron : 46:27
3. Hillary O'Shea : 49:08

In relation to my own preparation for the Tullamore Half Marathon...we have 9 weeks of the 10 weeks completed and this was the last race before the half marathon next Saturday 31st August @ 12 noon...all information is available on the Tullamore Harriers website..http://www.tullamoreharriers.com .Since I was involved in helping to set things up etc I only got to start my warm up at 11:35...John O'Connell who has been training us for the last 9 weeks told us to wear the harriers blue and white singlet for the race today so we'd get used to it...Before we started the warm up I headed over to the car and put it on...this gave the Rynaghs lads in the club something to sneer me about and now I was a super blue etc etc but I was proud to wear it and off we headed around the field for a few laps...John Bennett joined us and we had a good chat doing the warm up...Then around 11:50 we gathered at the entrance to get ready to start walking up the Birr road to the top of the hill for the start of the race...Waiting in the car park and stewarding for the day Martin Hanamy (Offaly All Ireland Hurling Winning Captain 1994 and a great club man) asked me how I got the singlet and with a crowd around him I knew where this was going...I said that you have to be an athlete to get one of these and when the harriers club think you’re ready they present you with one...I thought it was a good reply but Hanamy said go on will ya...you can get them in Elvery’s in Tullamore and with the noise of laughter behind me I headed up the Birr road..

St Rynaghs is a great club that has a lot of history since Cloghan and Banagher who are both in the parish of Rynaghs joined together to play hurling and football in 1961. Since then Offaly has won the All Ireland Hurling 4 times and the captain of 3 of them teams were St Rynaghs Men...Padraig Horan in 81, Martin Hanamy in 1994 and Hubert Rigney in 1998....all these lads are still involved in the club and continue to coach players of all ages....Currently in Offaly there is only 3 clubs playing hurling and football at senior championship level. The 3 teams are St Rynaghs along with Tullamore and Ferbane/Belmont...it’s not easy trying to keep both games going at Senior level and the 3 clubs tend to suffer because of this with dual players having to play football one week and hurling the next...we've always promoted and encouraged the dual player and in Rynagh’s we would have a huge overlap of lads playing both games. In the modern game where the county dual player is almost dead and gone the club had 3 players who represented Offaly in senior championship hurling and football...these were Paudge Mulhare, Paudie Mulhare and Michael Duignan.

Anyway back to the run…got to the top of the Birr Road and Paul Buckley gave us a quick run through of the course and then we were off...The fastest I've ever run a 10K before was just over 57 minutes and today when I checked my times after 1 mile I had run it in 7:47..the quickest mile I've ever run but I said I needed to slow down as I wouldn't last the 10K running at this pace...ran the next 3 mile in 9:00 , 8:59 and 9:01..consistant pace and something John has drilled into Ciaran and myself over the last 9 weeks...I felt good after 4 mile or 6.5 KM so I pushed it on a bit and passed out a few people which was new to me over the last 2 mile..I ran mile 5 in 8:45 and mile 6 in 8:39 and finished the last .25 Mile or 400M at 8:06 pace...delighted with how the run went and completed it in 54:00 minutes...a huge improvement from my previous best 10K run. Ciaran had a PB as well and completed the run in 59:44 and under the hour which is a great milestone to reach and something that's not easy to do...he has all his info here….http://fatdadrun.blogspot.ie/2013/08/the-cloghan-10k.html

OK so 9 weeks completed now and only 6 more days to the half marathon and the challenge that both Ciaran and myself accepted back in the middle of June...next week we'll only be doing light training on both Tuesday and Thursday and I'll try and get a blog entry up on Friday before the run...until then...enjoy the photos from the run in Cloghan.

To gel, or not to gel: that is the question

…after run on previous Sat morning with the girls I decided to go out that evening to watch some music at Hugh Lynches Canal Quarter Festival and took it easy. Sunday was a different story and I decided I’d have a good night out as I felt it was well deserved after all the hard work I was putting in…had a great night at the Wolfe Tones in Lynches after enjoying a few drinks in the tap before hand….on the way home was photographed in super mac’s enjoying a burger and chips (see pic below...thanks to David "Sonny" Kavanagh for providing evidence of my healthy eating)...can't go anywhere now without getting caught...John as his spies everywhere..

 

Tuesday 20th August : Started off the day up in Midlands 103 on Midlands Today with Will Faulkner. Michelle Mullaney (Club PRO), Ciaran and myself were up having a chat about how we were getting on and the craic was good in the studio...here is a link to it if you'd like to listen to it.. http://www.midlands103.com/custom/public/files/tullamore-harriers-2.mp3 That evening we arrived up to the harriers for a short run...at least this is what we were told the previous Thursday night...You think I’d know the story at this stage but John started the conversation with a friendly "How was the weekend?" and I started about the run on Sat and then he said..."How was the Wolfe Tones?"..."Great" said I and went on to tell him about it..."you wouldn't even say hello" he said...turns out John was at the gig as well but I didn't see him...there was a huge crowd at it and I didn't spot him...then to round off this part of the conversation, Lynchie puts his tuppence worth in...."Did you enjoy the food in supermacs afterwards".....saw the pic of you on facebook..."Really enjoyed them" I say and then John said we'd get going...as we started John said we'll do 10 miles tonight as it'll be good for us and with that we're off...

We were doing the long Ross run tonight, out by the Tullamore Golf Club and then back via Mugklagh bypass...tonight was the first time since I started the 10 week training for the half marathon that I had a stitch by the finger board...said nothing for a while as I thought it might go away but a mile on I still had it...don't know was it because of my enjoyable Sunday night or was it just one of those things but I was thinking to myself that I hope I don't get this on the day of the half marathon...anyway mentioned it to John and he gave me a few tips to get rid of it and after a while the stitch was gone...I was in with Jody O’Reilly in the new running shop in Tullamore the previous week he asked my if I had ever tried the Energy Gels...I said I hadn't and he gave me a Cola one to try out...here is some info on why you might use Gels from the  Kinetica’s website..

Why: Kinetica’s Hydrating energy gels are designed to help improve and replenish your vital energy and hydration levels while on the go.

When : Replenish energy quickly by taking 1 gel every 30-40 minutes during training and competition for optimal results.

I had the gel with me the previous Saturday but didn't take it during my 2 hours run as I said I'd run it by John to get his thoughts...I have never seen John taking any Gels in the 9 weeks we were with him but he said they are fine to take and some people find them very good...he also said that they don't agree with some people and that I'd want to try it tonight and not just on the day of the race...after about 5 miles I took the gel and offered some to John and Ciaran but both said they were ok so I took the full amount myself...then when I had it all gone John gave me loads of information why there is so many Portaloo's at the start of races and what to do in a race if your stomach and bowels start to play up...This gave me great confidence as I was 5 miles from home and I was picturing myself in a ditch with the 2 lads laughing at me...Anyway everything went well for the remainder of the run in all departments...I wasn't having a great run up until about 6 miles but felts good for the remaining 4 miles...don't know was this because of the gel or it was just that I was loosed up at this stage but will definitely use the gels again at 40 mins and 80 mins during the half marathon.

Thursday 22nd August...here is what we did tonight...this is excerpt from Ciaran's blog http://fatdadrun.blogspot.ie/2013/08/the-last-tough-one.html 

"We ran 3 x 2 miles tonight in the grounds of Charleville Castle. The fist one was probably too quick (19:31), the next one too slow(20:34), and the last one, like the bowl of porridge Goldilocks ate, was just right(19.50). Ray has finally found his Garmin watch, and once he's able to use it properly, it might be some benefit to him. He did manage to get it to measure our overall distance though, and he recons we ran 8.2 miles including the run down to the Castle and back."

I got a Garmin watch about 3 years ago for Christmas and never used it and I spent the last 3 weeks going through every part of the house looking for it...I found it last night and had it with me tonight and the lads enjoyed me trying to figure out how to use it...John would have said we'd run 7 miles tonight but now since I have my watch I clocked it at 8.2 miles...the difference between my watch and John's is that mine starts when I start running...John's starts when we arrive at Charleville...on the way back I was telling the lads the distance I had on my watch and John asked did I start it when I left home....happy again with the run tonight and spent most of the run with Mary Daly. Mary joined us tonight while we were in Charleville as she was doing a Triathlon in Killarney on Sunday and was taking it easy...enjoyed the chat and I was saying to Mary that I heard she was going to be giving us a pep talk before the half marathon on the Thursday....Mary wasn't aware of this but Ciaran and myself said we were looking forward to it and that everyone in the club was as well. It will be a great occasion and a huge crowd is expected to attend.....Mary hasn't fully decided on what she hopes to cover on the night but you don't want to miss it...more details in next weeks blog..

That is all for now...Cloghan 10K on Sunday...Not long to half marathon now :)

What do you use your buddy for?

Run Bubby Run has been a busy runner the last few weeks and I can’t believe it’s nearly 2 weeks since my last blog entry….and the blob (I think he means blog) as me and Lynchie are called by Adrian Martin (Club Captain) is back!! Anyway after my dance injury I got on holidays I got out for a run on Thur 1st August and did another 90 minute session running about 8 miles....before I went on holidays John wanted me to keep up the 3 runs per week and doing this one today meant I kept to the programme……training on holidays was new to me and before I went I didn’t know would I stick to the plan but after completed the session tonight I was happy that I did. I didn’t want to arrive at training after the holidays struggling to keep up…I was hopeing the training I did while away would pay off and all the hills etc that I ran up would help me somewhere along the way…

Sunday 4th August…arrived at the 10K run that Ballycumber GAA were having…Colm Quinn had been onto me to do it and  I said I would. I enjoy doing different runs and they are always enjoyable and it’s a good way to meet up with people and catch up etc.  I only arrived home the previous night at 21:30 and I had thought about giving it a miss....we were meant to be home by 14:00 but you got to love Ryanair…here we were in the Airport looking out at the plane on the tarmac but the flight couldn’t leave as it had no crew to fly it…out of all the flight leaving that day the only flight delayed was ours so we had great fun with a 5 year old, 3 year old and a baby….anyway the run was well organised and a great crew from the harriers were there and also it was well supported by GAA players. The start line was about 1 KM from the GAA clubhouse but after getting there (used it as a warm up) we got going…race went well but felt tired and completed the run in 58:06…happy enough considering the hills etc and as Catch Grennan would say to me numerous times during training the following week…”There’s a lot of hills in Ballycumber”

Tuesday night was the first night back training and still the legs were tired…Ciaran was in Dublin and didn’t get back so missed him as we hadn’t run together now in over 3 weeks…spoke to him and he said he’d be back on the Thursday…had a new recruit tonight…the great Robbie Connolly…a guy that works with John and someone who is looking to do the half marathon as well…we did the Mucklagh loop tonight…out the new road and then back through the town…about 8 mile ran altogether after you take in a few laps of the tarmacadam track when you get back….Robbie was going well for a guy that doesn’t do a lot of running but was well able to keep up with us…..said he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to do the half marathon or not but judging on tonight if he keeps it up for the next 4 weeks and listens to advice from John he’ll be grand….chatting to Robbie he was saying he went out last week and he ran 10K but he ran the first mile in about 9 minutes and then some at 10 minutes etc….he was running at a different pace throughout the run and he found the run hard because of this….he felt good at the end of the run tonight as John always keeps us running at the same pace throughout and he said he could see the difference running this way…we normally start our runs at a pace and then as we get into it we might run a bit quicker each mile we do...it might only be 2-3 seconds per mile but after 8 miles the ace might be 20 seconds quicker per mile.

Thursday 8th …no Robbie tonight but Ciaran was back…good banter as usual as we ran out towards Mucklagh again and Ciaran was on fire…he hadn’t run on the Tuesday so he was fresh...I did 5 mile with Ciaran but he had to go early so I did another 2 mile around the tarmacadam track….Ciaran has a lot more daily run information on his blog http://fatdadrun.blogspot.ie/ so check it out.

Saturday 10th.. Some people have buddies for different things…Ciaran is my Run buddy…nothing more and nothing less…this is the way Ciaran likes it and it works for me as well….today my run buddy was away and I was a man amongst women…the girls in the harriers were meeting up at 8am and I asked could I go with them and as expected this wasn’t a problem. I prefer to run with a group….about 12 girls turned up and some decided to do the route of the half marathon and others decided to do a 12 miler…I said I’d go with the group who was doing the 12 milers but I wanted to stop at 11 mile as I’d never run more than 10 before and I didn’t want to get an injury at this stage…about 9 of us headed off together and Mary Mann had a watch and she was able to keep us running at the same pace throughout….carried a water bottle with me and this was a bit of a pain but knew I’d need it so I had no choice…don’t know how many times I said I need to get a water belt during the run…pace started at about 10:20 but got quicker as we went through the miles…we did the long ross run and then headed towards Killina after Screggan Cross and then via Lynally and down the side of Charleville Castle at Mucklagh and then home…my water was gone after about 7 mile and was ok for the next few mile…at about 9 mile Sharon Daly and Miriam Brady looked after me for the water. I stopped after 11 miles as we were in the harriers but the girls continued for a few laps of the tarmacadam track to bring them up to 12 mile….I said I’d stop as I didn’t want to overdo it but to cool down I walked a few laps of the track….I did the 11 mile in 1:53 and was delighted to have finished it..

Since we’ve started our 10 week training for the half marathon I haven’t missed a session yet…for the first few weeks we were training on Wednesday's as well but this only lasted for a few weeks as I found the 3 sessions a week is enough as otherwise the body is tired and the extra days rests works for me anyway…each week we train on Tue and Thur and we have been doing 8 mile on average each night for the last few weeks…we then have to do a long run at the weekend and last Saturdays was the longest run I’ve ever done..

Tuesday 20th we ran another 8 mile and Robbie joined us again and we headed for Mucklagh but on Thursday it was back to the 3 amigos again…John , Ciaran and myself and tonight John said we’d go a different route….we left the harriers and headed for Ballinamere, over the railway bridge at Tullamore Hardware and then a left towards Lynally and then down the side of Charleville Castle at Mucklagh and back to the harriers…the run tonight was 8.6 miles and I did it in under 88 minute…I see Ciaran on his blog http://fatdadrun.blogspot.ie/2013/08/another-7-miles-clocked.html mentioned about his romantic standoff with Clara Walsh who interviewed us the first time on Midland 103 about 8 weeks ago…this is the way I saw it….after we left the studio with Will Faulkner (3 weeks ago) Ciaran was standing outside the door and after the 5 weeks of training he had done he was in good shape…the body was well toned and he was feeling good about himself…if you listen back to the first interview with Clara http://www.midlandsradio.fm/custom/public/files/tullamore-harriers.mp3 there was a lot of flirting between the 2 with Clara saying “Ciaran you’re in good shape” etc and it looked like Clara was coming over to say “Ciaran you’re really after toning up since that last time I saw you” and Ciaran was loving the attention...then there was the awkward silence and you could feel the tension in the air and everyone was waiting to see what was going to happen next. Ciaran was standing at the door and Clara asked would he mind moving out of the way as she had to read the news and you could see the disappointment in his face...Ciaran got very embarrassed as the compliment about his new toned body didn’t come but he knew his buddy would be there to pick up the pieces and I consoled him as we left the studio…as we did our run tonight the 3 of us discussed this incident at length and the story changed a few times as we went around but we had a good laugh discussing it…tune in next Tuesday at 11:15 for our next interview on Radio 3 to see what happens.

Saturday 17th and today was going to be my longest run yet…the group was going to do 12 miler…we meet up at the harriers for 8:30 and there was 8 of us altogether…Aisling McCormack joined us as well today and it was good to see her as I hadn’t seen her since we enjoyed a drink together on the August bank holiday Sunday inside the front door of the bridge house…These water belt have really taken off…everyone I think had one today…we all seem to have purchased one from the new running shop on Cormac Street in Tullamore…Jody O’Reilly a member of the Tullamore Harriers is the guy that owns the shop and if you want any running gear etc…give him a shout as he has everything you might need….anyway we started off with a few laps of the tarmacadam track and then left at the rear entrance of the harriers and towards the court hotel, then back via Cormac st and headed towards Mucklagh…the plan today as to run the opposite way to what we did last Saturday….we had no Mary Mann today and as a result we had no watch but Josie Lalor had an iPhone that had the run keeper app and we checked it now and again…had a good chat with everyone during the run and since we were all running at a steady pace, everyone was able to chat and enjoy the run…I ended up running the last 4 mile with Josie today and we had a great chat. I had spoken to Josie a few times before over the phone but wasn’t aware of it. Josie is manager of Bank of Ireland in Banagher and the bank St Rynaghs Football Club in Cloghan deal with is the same bank and we would have spoken a few times during the building of our new clubhouse….Josie would like to run the half marathon in under the two hours and for the last few miles she upped the pace and I stayed with her…we got back to the harriers in 2 hours and had run just over 12 miles…When I started the ten week training I would have liked to run the half marathon in under the 2 hours but this would mean having to run each mile in 9:14…45 seconds quicker than we are currently running it….so now after learning about how to run a race etc my new target is to run it between 2:05 and 2:10…I think I’ll be in around 2:08 but I’ll only know that on the day….when we all got back we cooled down with a walk around the track and then we had a little picnic of fruit, buns, etc…very enjoyable run and thanks to the girls for bringing me with them the last 2 weeks…here is a pic of the group today taken on Josie’s phone…I didn’t have a camera last week so didn’t get a pic..here is everyone from today..Sharon, Miriam, Aisling, Hilary, Josie, Trish, Dorothy and myself.

Less than 2 weeks to go now until the half marathon…all information is here http://www.tullamoreharriers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=187 so if you haven’t signed up already make sure to do it today..

Tonight now is going to be my last night out until the half marathon and planning to meet up with Ciaran at the Canal Quarters Festival so that we can rehydrate before our run again next Tuesday. Ciaran has no problem if you’d like a photo with him later….make sure to get the pic early if you want a nice one … http://canalquarterfestival.com/

Next week we’ll do the usual Tue and Thur and I won’t be doing a long run again until the half marathon as the Cloghan 10K is on next Sunday 25th August and Ciaran and I will be running in it. This is the 3rd year of the race and its organised by Paul Buckley who is involved with the Ferbane Athletics club and who is from Cloghan. It’s a fundraiser for St Rynaghs Football Club’s new clubhouse and the entry is €20 and this includes a goody bag with technical t-shirt, fruit, drink etc…refreshments will be available afterwards and it’s a nice run with good prizes if you’re into competing….hope to see a few of you there..here is all the info..

CLOGHAN 10K Run / 5K Walk 2013....All runners, jogger & walkers welcome

• Sunday 25th August 2013 @ 12pm
• Registration on the day - 10:30am at St. Rynaghs Football Club, Cloghan or online at https://www.activeglobal.com/Events/index.cfm?AC=EventDetails_V2&E=189125&HideFrame=1
• Entry online: €20 - On the Day: €20
• Race goody bag & t-shirt to 1st 100 entrants

Prizes:

• 1,2,3 Male & Female -  €100 - €70 - €50
• 1st Male & Female over 40’s ,50’s,60’s  €80

Contact Details:

• Phone:Paul Buckley on 086 3248086 or Ciarán Grogan on 087 9202188

Training while on holiday’s

Friday 19th July…Put the runners in the bag for the first time ever while I was packing and hoping that I’d have the discipline to get out and follow what John had told me to do while away…arrived over on the Friday night and decided I’d do my first run on Sat evening…I have 6 runs to do while away so I said I’d get off to a good start…I started my run at 19:40 in the evening and did a full 80 minutes with only one stop for a bottle of water in a shop…was running on my own as my running partner hadn’t arrived yet and don’t know what pace etc I did as I have no watch (need to get one of these) but was happy to get the run in….a few tips John had given me over the last few weeks came back to me such as running in the shade if possible, running on even surfaces (footpaths were uneven), relaxing the arms, be aware of my breathing etc and I really enjoyed the run and felt relaxed throughout…this might have been because I wasn’t running at my normal pace but it was probably the most enjoyable run I’d had since I started as everything felt right…the change of scenery might have had a lot to do with this as well…. Ciaran has mentioned in his blog http://fatdadrun.blogspot.ie/ about running being as much a mental activity as it is a physical battle I’d agree totally with….tonight mentally I was enjoying a new route and my holiday so I wasn’t even thinking about the next corner or hill in front of me and time seemed to fly by.

On Monday, David Spain (Brother in law) and myself headed off at 18:45 and we did a similar run to what I had done on the Saturday…the pace was up a bit…Dave would have done a good bit of running when he was younger and he still has it in the legs even though he doesn’t do a lot of running now…says he’s going to get back into it more and is going to do the Tullamore half marathon on 31st August…we did 80 minutes tonight with a few stops for water and this is how we looked when we got back..

Wednesday night the plan was to go out so we said we’d go out in the morning…anyway this didn’t happen and the only time we could get out was at 15:30….the temperature was very warm and even with all the water I had taken on board during the day etc…..10 minutes into the run I was struggling…we went out in one direction about 2 miles and I had to stop for water in a local shop…started again and went about another mile and was really struggling at this stage…Dave said we’d go to the next roundabout and see how we are get on…by then I was out on my feet….Dave was feeling ok so I said to him to work away and I’d turn back and he could catch up on me before I got back….on the way back I would say I stopped about 5 times with a few walks in between…stopped twice to buy water in local shops and wasn’t feeling good at all…eventually got back having done about 70 minutes but this included stops/walks etc but again was happy that I at least got out…said I’d take a break then for a few days and decided that we’d do a long run on Sat.

Saturday we decided to run at 7:00 in the morning but couldn’t get out of bed and eventually hit the road at 8:20….Dave had route planned and it was about an 8-10 mile run down to the marine and back….a lot of big hills etc and really tough. I always find the first 15 minutes of the runs hard and this morning was no different as it takes a while for the body to loosen up but was going ok….after about 35 minutes I was feeling ok and this was because I was doing down a hill…before we went down the hill we had to go up a hill that is about a mile in  distance…before you start up the hill there is a lidi shop and as I was half way up the hill I could hear a guy behind me for a while..i was waiting for him to pass me out and as he did I couldn’t believe he was running with a bag of shopping in each hand…didn’t feel as good as I did about conquering the hill then…we got down to the marina in about 45 minutes and we had a quick stop for some water…we then started to make our way back through the old town and back along the coast…did a full 90 minutes with 1 stop on 45min for water and 1 stop at 55min for a photo…next Monday the plan is to do the full 90 minutes with no stops so hopefully I’ll be able to do this….Running at different times of the day has taught me that the time you run at each day is very important if you want to have the energy to complete them….running when it’s cooler in the morning or evening is a good idea and also run in the shade if possible.

Monday we went out for a run at 18:45 and I wanted to run the full distance without stopping…Dave said he’d go ahead of me and pick up water when it was needed...Got down to half way point at marina in 45 minutes and Dave called into a shop for water…there was a queue in the shop when Dave called in so I was parched by the time Dave caught up on me….Dave had the iphone with him and was using runkeeper tonight so we got exact distance/time/pace etc for the run…we ran for 1:26:36 at a pace of 11:02 and a distance of 7.85 miles…happy enough as temp was 27oC and a lot of hills etc…

Had planned to go for a run today Wed 31st but similar to Ciaran on his blog…I was doing cross training as well last night…had a great night out and ended up on the dance floor showing a few moves….anyway the DJ played “One Step Beyond – Madness” and the legs were in overdrive…didn’t get to finish off my dance moves as I pulled up with a pain in my right calf….don’t know did I pull something or strain it in some way…..as I write it’s still not right so hopefully nothing to serious as I see Ciaran is nursing an injury as well at the minute…we’ll need to get these sorted as we only have 4 weeks to go before the half marathon….will be back training with Ciaran this weekend and we plan to do the Ballycumber 10K run on Sunday…here is the details…Ballycumber GAA are holding a 10k run & Family 5K walk on Sunday August 4th at. Entry is €10 per person & kids go free.

Finally just after finishing a book called “Kings of September – The day Offaly denied Kerry five in a row”…what a brilliant book about Offaly GAA and it’s a great read from start to finish…I never got a chance to read it before and if you haven't read it you should get your hands on a copy..it shows the preparation, time and effort this Offaly team put in to achieving something that was unthinkable and they spent years as a group working towards the goal of winning a All-Ireland.…as was said in the book…it’s a story of ordinary men who did extraordinary things...we live in hope that we’ll see days like this again in Offaly…

Here is a few photos Dave took of me on our Runs....Until later...only 4 weeks to go..